Stubler's firing leaves Lions with second hole to fill

Vancouver Sun12.08.2013

The Lions made it official in a news release today that defensive coordinator Rich Stubler is leaving to pursue other opportunities, most likely with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as a member of Mike O’Shea’s staff. FILE: Defensive Coordinator Rich Stubler at BC Lions practice at BC Place in Vancouver, B.C., November 15, 2012.Arlen Redekop
/ PNG

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VANCOUVER - A “leap of faith” is precisely what Wally Buono showed in Mike Benevides when the latter was named head coach of the B.C. Lions two seasons ago.

Buono’s decision to hand the head coaching reins to his 43-year-old defensive coordinator was not a singular move, however. It represented an evolving trend throughout the Canadian Football League.

A burgeoning youth movement is apparent in 36-year-old Corey Chamblin of the Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders, Scott Milanovich, who won the 2012 Grey Cup with the Toronto Argonauts at the age of 39, and three recent head coaching appointments -- Mike O’Shea in Winnipeg, Chris Jones in Edmonton and Rick Campbell of the expansion Ottawa RedBlacks. O’Shea is 43, Campbell 42 and Jones, the senior statesman of the group, is a wizened 46.

The course direction bodes well for Mark Washington, the 40-year-old defensive backs coach of the Lions who is expected to replace Rich Stubler as the team’s defensive coordinator.

The speculated firing of Stubler by GM Buono was one of the persistent rumours floated during Grey Cup week in Regina, a piece of late-November information by a league executive which turned out to be correct. The Lions announced that Stubler, 64, was being relieved of his duties in a Saturday morning news release, paving the way for Washington’s promotion. Stubler is expected to land in Winnipeg as part of O’Shea’s staff.

“One of my professional goals is to be a head coach,” Washington told The Vancouver Sun earlier this year. “My situation is no different than anybody else. Everybody needs that break, that opportunity, to get ahead.”

Washington believed his chance was coming because of the sea change occurring in the CFL coaching ranks. More ex-players, not just career coaches, are patrolling the sidelines than ever before.

A graduate of Rutgers, Washington broke into the CFL in 1997 with the Montreal Alouettes, spent six seasons there and won a Grey Cup (2002) with the Als. He was interviewed by Montreal GM Jim Popp in January for the vacant Alouettes head coaching position after Marc Trestman left for the Chicago Bears. Popp instead opted for Dan Hawkins, a man without previous CFL background -- and a disastrous choice, as it turned out. He was fired before coaching his sixth game of the 2013 season.

“Somebody like Mark is going to be in demand because he’s a great coach,” Benevides said at the time. “It’s always flattering to another organization when your coaches are seen in that light.”

Washington has spent 11 seasons with the Lions, six of them as a coach. So there’s little need for Benevides to cast his net far and wide to find a suitable DC replacement, with the ideal candidate seated just down the hallway at the team’s Surrey training centre.

“When I retired at the end of the ’07 season, Wally (Buono) gave me the opportunity to start coaching,” Washington said. “That’s one thing he commented on — the need to get the next generation of coaches started. Wally was young when he started (Buono was 40 in 1990, his first year as HC of the Calgary Stampeders). That’s what we’re starting to see again. The new generation is coming.”

In addition to Stubler, the Lions are also looking to fill another key vacancy, following the jettisoning of 52-year-old offensive coordinator Jacques Chapdelaine. Chapdelaine was let go days after the Lions 29-25 loss to the Roughriders in the West Division semi-final, although the announcement was not made official until Nov. 27. Benevides indicated then his first choice was Paul LaPolice, who was 39 when the Blue Bombers named him their head coach in February, 2010.

LaPolice has been an on-air analyst with TSN since his firing by the Blue Bombers, eight games into the 2012 season.

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Stubler's firing leaves Lions with second hole to fill

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